CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

MIDDLETOWN, California — An explosive wildfire burns largely unchecked after incinerating hundreds of homes and other buildings throughout rural communities north of California's Napa Valley, leaving at least one person dead and sending tens of thousands fleeing down flame-lined streets. 

GAY MARRIAGE-KENTUCKY

MOREHEAD, Kentucky — A Kentucky county clerk returns to work for the first time since she was jailed for defying a federal court and announces that she would no longer block her deputies from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. 

ACTIVE SHOOTER-MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE

CLEVELAND, Mississippi — A college instructor suspected in the fatal shootings of a woman he lived with on Mississippi's Gulf Coast and a professor at Delta State University 300 miles (480 kilometers) away was still at large, but at some point was in contact with police and told them that he's "not going to jail," authorities say. 

PRESIDENTIAL RACE-OBAMA

DES MOINES, Iowa — President Barack Obama won't be on the ballot in 2016, but he showed he's looking for ways to put his imprint on the race to succeed him. With the campaign intensifying, Obama showed up in Iowa, the Midwestern state whose leadoff caucuses were crucial to his own political rise and will have the first say in winnowing the current crop of candidates. 

PRESIDENTIAL RACE-TRUMP

DALLAS — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump renews his focus on illegal immigration, calling the United States "a dumping ground for the rest of the world" as he rallies thousands of Texas supporters behind his fiery candidacy and promised Republican leaders he's just getting started. 

PRESIDENTIAL RACE-SANDERS

LYNCHBURG, Virginia — In an unlikely appearance at a prominent Christian university, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says the "massive injustice" of income and wealth inequality should unite people across the political spectrum.